Listen

The Kefauver Hearings

Back in the early 1950s, journalists talked about the existence of organized crime rackets in major cities across the country. Republicans thought it would embarrass Democrats who knew that their political machines might be linked to some of the gangsters. Still Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver took up the challenge of investigating organized crime. That created special problems for Nevada where gambling was legal but often operated by people with gang connections. Thursday is Kefauver Day at the Mob Museum and we look at a documentary made by Kefauver's daughter and son-in-law.